


Clockwork Harmony

by Lilafly



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: 1920s, F/M, Fluff, Steampunk AU, aroace Alix, humanized kwamis, no magic, not historically accurate, reverse love square, slightly aged up characters (around 18-20 years old), someone please save the kitten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-11-06 23:45:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17949455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilafly/pseuds/Lilafly
Summary: Mechanic Marinette knows this isn't her dream job, but it gives her the opportunity to frequently see the enigmatic Chat Noir. If only she could muster up a complete sentence around him. Just as everything seems to be going like clockwork in her life, Adrien Agreste, Paris's most eligible bachelor stumbles into her shop and turns things upside down. What is he doing there? And shouldn't someone from High Society be more eloquent?!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FlowerButter42](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlowerButter42/gifts).



> First off, I want to thank [ZiriO](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZiriO), [Bluetreeleaves](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluetreeleaves), [RoseGardenTwilight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseGardenTwilight) and [HariWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HariWrites) for helping me so much with this story! Especially Ziri with her screeching comments and enthusiasm really helped me to keep working on it and bringing in more and more ideas! This story wouldn't be here without you, so _thank you!_ 💛💛💛
> 
> * * *
> 
> Welcome to my first uploaded work of "it was supposed to be a one-shot"! ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> This is for the Confidential Cupid exchange on the Left to Write discord server and what can I say? The wishes of a Fantasy AU and a Reversed Love Square got me very excited! *O* ;w;  
> I first had another AU in mind, but then I despaired at the outline and spontaneously started writing a Steampunk AU. [ZiriO](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZiriO) can vouch for it being very spontaneous! :'D I literally started writing it two days before Valentine's day! ^^"  
>  ~~The other AU will still get written at another point in time by the way~~  
>  I have no idea how many chapters this will end up having because I'm horrible, but I'll try to upload weekly and see how that works out! :D
> 
> I really hope you like it Flower! ;w;
> 
> PS: I wanted to write this AU ever since I found this steampunk black cat mask on a Christmas market back in December ;w;  
> 
> 
>   
> 
> 
> * * *

Marinette wrapped the scarf tighter around her neck as she exited the post office and a cold breeze immediately made her freeze. The middle of winter was harsh, which made her love her work even more. Among the steam machines in the workshop it was rarely cold.

“You shouldn’t lie to your parents,” Tikki said with a huff as she walked next to Marinette. She was a young woman, about Marinette’s age with curly red hair that was held in place by an elegant black hat. They were quite similar in size, which meant that they both were tiny compared to the average person.

“It’s better like this. If they knew how I live compared to what they expect they would pack their bags and come to Paris themselves. They can’t afford such a journey right now so they might lose the bakery. If they think that everything is fine then they’ll stay home and nothing gets unnecessarily complicated,” Marinette argued and bit her lip. Her arguments grew weaker by the month and judging by Tikki’s deep frown, it became also more noticeable by the month. Then again, Tikki always had a great perception.

“What if they want to visit you regardless and then they search for your boutique in vain?”

“They wouldn’t come without asking me first,” Marinette said. Tikki just stared at her.

“Ok, they would, but I can’t think about that now.”

Tikki sighed.

“Just prepare for the worst.”

Both of them stayed silent after that. Marinette kept a lookout for any sort of trouble, being alert even when she was not Ladybug. She had assumed the identity of the crime-fighter about a year back, a few months after she had first arrived in the city. Upon the boutique she had worked at going bankrupt only a few days after she started working there, she had been left out on the street to fend for herself. Since all her money had been put into the journey itself and her apartment had been right above the boutique, she had been left with no option but to take every job she could get her hands on.

Luckily, she had been found by Master Fu and Tikki, who had gladly taken her in and taught her the art of building machines. She had caught on quickly and often worked day and night to finish a project on time and pay her generous employer and co-worker back for letting her stay. They had given her a home and they had given her work. Even though it was not what she had imagined when she had moved to Paris, it was still a work that made her happy. The satisfaction of finishing a project and seeing the machines work flawlessly was not unlike the satisfaction of finishing a nice gown. Different, but still artful and fascinating.

When the two of them arrived back at the workshop they were greeted by Master Fu, who had been talking to a customer. While Tikki was busy sorting the parts she had purchased at the market, Marinette went up to her room to change into clothes more suitable for the workshop.

She almost had a heart attack when she noticed a black-clad figure sitting on the roof in front of her window.

Chat Noir

He grinned and waved at her, begging her to let him in.

“Come in, quick! I don’t want my cold to get room! I mean my _room_ to get _cold_!” She stammered as she opened the window and quickly shut it behind him again.

“How is my favourite Princess doing?” He purred and she could not help but blush.

 

Chat Noir had been something of an urban legend in Paris when she had first arrived. A mysterious man in black clothes that wore a cat mask and fought crime at night. Alya, a regular customer who had quickly become a good friend of hers, had persuaded Marinette back then to accompany her to one of her nightly hunts to see him. She was a journalist and her goal was to take a picture of Chat Noir, since no one had managed to do so yet. Either the photos ended up blurry or the cameras with which they had been taken had been smashed beyond repair. The latter was a reason why Alya visited the shop so often: she either needed serious repairs or she needed to have a new camera optimized to take pictures at night.

On that night, when Alya had taken Marinette along with her, the both of them had been unfortunate enough to run into a robber. Her _insane_ new best friend had kicked the criminal into his crown jewels, not knowing that there was a second one right behind them. And that one had a gun.

Both of them had been ready to give him their possessions, but like an avenging angel Chat Noir had suddenly dropped down from the rooftops and beaten the offender to a pulp. He had then given their possessions back to them with a flirtatious wink before he had disappeared again. Marinette had been a goner.

Upon returning home, Marinette had told the whole story to Tikki, who had been horrified but also intrigued. When voicing the wish to see Chat Noir again, Tikki had told her that he would only show up when there was a crime and that she did not want Marinette near any of that. An understandable sentiment. But Marinette was not so easily brushed off. She had worked the entire night to design a costume like that of Chat Noir and with her new knowledge of machines, had also made rough sketches of possible weapons she could wield.

She had shown the sketches to Tikki the next morning and after yet another discussion of the dangers, she had reluctantly agreed to help. Since she was much more advanced in machinery crafting than Marinette was, she had designed the weapons, while Marinette had used the little money she had to buy fabrics for the costume. Both of them had worked for weeks on end until everything had finally been finished and Ladybug had been born.

Marinette had been taught martial arts when she was little and with the added weapons, she felt invincible! Yet on her first night out as Ladybug, when she had met Chat Noir, she had managed to tangle both of them up in the string of her yo-yo—one of her weapons. It had been very embarrassing. Worse yet, after a few days he had made clear how much of a _good friend_ Ladybug was to him. Not that being his friend was bad, but it was not quite the relationship she had strived for.

But then he had met Marinette again when she was on her way back home from an errand and _by god_ , what a difference that made! It was like she was two different people—which she frankly kind of was, but that was negligible. He had blushed— _blushed_ —and offered to accompany her home like a true gentleman. She had been over the moon!

That had been back in summer and ever since then, Chat Noir tended to pay her spontaneous visits.

 

“I’m great,” Marinette squeaked. No matter how many times he visited, she still turned into an awkward, stuttering mess. Despite their affections being mutual—or at least she strongly assumed them to be—they had not done anything more than hold hands. Apparently, both of them had rationalised to themselves that a real relationship was impossible as long as a mask was in the way. And since said mask wouldn’t come off any time soon, their relationship status would just remain _complicated_.

“H-how was y-your day Chat?” She asked while rubbing warmth back into her cold hands—she had forgotten to wear gloves.

“Oh, the usual. Being amazing, saving damsels in distress,” he said with a grin. If his cheeks were red from the cold or from a blush was impossible to tell. She liked to believe it was the latter, which would mean that she was not the only flustered one of them.

“But the best part of my day has started when I saw you,” he said and Marinette felt her cheeks warm dangerously. Not much more and they would be on fire. How could he just flirt with her and stay composed while she was internally melting into a puddle of goo?!

_Unfair!_

To prevent falling to the ground because her legs threatened to give in, Marinette sat down on the side of her bed and motioned to her chair so Chat could sit down too.

“How has your day been? Please tell me about it!” He said and his eyes gleamed in excitement behind the glass of his goggles.

Thank goodness! At least that was easy. She could just pretend she was talking to Tikki or Alya when talking about her day, so she wouldn’t get flustered. At least she hoped so.

“We have a lot of repairs to do right now. Apparently in winter machines break more easily. So Tikki went to shop for parts while I had to do a house visit at Monsieur Ramier’s place because his grandfather clock stopped working. One time someone tried to get a grandfather clock to our workshop and it broke on the way here, so we usually make house visits for those kinds of repairs.

Then I ran into Tikki when she was on her way back and made a small detour to send a letter to my parents. And now I’m here.”

Alright, her day had not been _that_ exciting now that she retold it. She would like to ask how Chat’s day had been like, but that would be wasted effort. He never spoke about his civilian life.

“Have you told them of your job this time?” Chat Noir asked, his voice hopeful. Marinette bit her lip.

“No,” she winced. She started to regret to have told Chat her life story and how she was lying to her parents in her letters. He was as bad as Tikki when it came to trying to convince her to finally come clear. But she could not do that…yet. They would be so disappointed!

“Marinette—”

“I know! I know!” She interrupted him and buried her face in her hands. “I’ll do it eventually, promise! I just can’t do it now!”

_Not while I’m in the middle of a life crisis!_

Marinette heard the steps of his boots on the wooden floor as Chat stood up from the chair and came over to her. He pried her hands away from her face and smiled at her.

“Hey, it’s okay. Just remember that it will get worse the longer you wait. I don’t want you to have a bad relationship with your parents just because you were not honest with them. And besides; if they are any bit as wonderful as you always described them to be, then they will be proud of you and not mad.”

He gently brushed over her cheek with a gloved hand. When had she started crying?

“Just promise me that you’ll tell them in your next letter. I’ll even help you write it. Okay?”

Marinette felt herself nod and she leaned into his hand that had lingered on her cheek.

“Okay.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Adrinette encounter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all the support! I hope you continue to like this story! <3

“Why the long face, kid?” Plagg asked, only briefly looking up to glance at Adrien before going back to work on the engine he was fixing. Adrien let himself fall down on a chair with a sigh.

“It’s just the end of the world, Plagg!” He lamented.

“Here we go,” Plagg muttered without looking up, though Adrien was sure he was rolling his eyes.

“Father said that I have to marry soon or the company will get bad press.”

“Or in other words: A distraction from the airship incident last month,” Plagg supplied.

The previous month, a new airship his father had built— _Dark_ Wings—had launched, claiming it would be the fastest airship yet. And it was, but it had gone up in flames. Luckily everyone had been saved in time, but it had been a big fiasco. The press had taken Agreste Aviation apart and now his father seemed _desperate_ for some positive press so that the company wouldn’t lose any more money.

“Sucks to be you,” Plagg said with fairly little sympathy.

 

Plagg was one of the mechanics employed at Adrien’s father’s company but in contrary to the others, he was anything but haughty about it. He frequently complained about Agreste senior and the company and he was also the only one who treated Adrien like a normal person. For Plagg, social status was only interesting when it meant that you had enough money to buy Camembert. Which Adrien had and therefore found no harm in buying some for Plagg once in a while as a ‘thank you’.

Plagg had also been the one who taught Adrien to stand up for himself and not be such a pushover. Last but not least, he had been more than willing to help Adrien to assume the identity of Chat Noir. It gave Adrien an escape from his stifling life and at the same time he did something good! Sure, there was the occasional injury that needed to be treated, but apart from that he could not complain.

Without even doing anything or asking for it, he had gotten a _partner_ about a year ago! She had introduced herself as Ladybug and once he had gotten used to her stammering, he had grown to appreciate her for her quick wit, her bravery and especially for being there for him as a friend. He sadly did not have many.

Being Chat Noir allowed him to be close to someone even more special: Marinette. He had first met her as Adrien when she had told off a vendor at the market for ripping people off with forgery. Only luck had made it possible for him to be at that place that day, as he had run away from his driver to look around the marketplace for a bit and maybe find something nice he could use for his costume.

Marinette had verbally ripped that vendor apart and wasn’t the least bit fazed by his sexist comments. The latter especially had drawn a crowd, which had alerted the police. The vendor had been arrested and the noirette had went on her merry way, not sparing the man another glance.

Adrien did not know why, but he had fallen hard and fast for her right then and there. He had seen her again two days later when he had escaped a particularly boring class and was having fun running over the Parisian rooftops. She had not been in any danger, despite it already being dark outside, but Adrien hadn’t been able to help himself and dropped down to street level to accompany her home.

That had gotten an interesting reaction out of her. Apparently, she preferred the mysterious Chat Noir to the famous Adrien Agreste and he was fine with that. That way he could connect his freedom with his love, making it even better. Sadly, that also meant that his civilian life got even more miserable.

 

“Just say no,” Plagg advised little helpfully.

“I can’t.”

“Then marry a girl your father chooses for you,” Plagg shrugged.

“I can’t do that either.”

“Jesus Christ, kid, then _decide already!_ ”

Adrien frowned. As direct and removed as Plagg was, he was also right. Either he whined about it and accepted his fate, or he did something about it.

“Why don’t you just marry that mechanic girl?” Plagg asked with a smirk as Adrien felt his cheeks warm.

“I can’t marry Marinette! She…I mean…I want to but—”

“Yeah, yeah, you and your ‘but’s. Is there anything you don’t find an excuse about?"

Plagg turned around to Adrien and rolled his eyes. “Do you like her?”

Adrien blinked. “I love her,” he said softly. Plagg made a gagging noise.

“Do you want to marry her?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then you have your answer.”

“Father would never allow it. She’s not High Society.”

“Neither will he be if the company is not saved by _something_. You can give your old man an ultimatum: Either you marry her or you don’t marry at all. What would he be able to do to oppose you? Lock you in your room? That won’t save his company either.”

“But how would it look if I would just show up at her workshop as Adrien Agreste and _propose_ to her?!”

“Think of something else then!”

 

* * *

 

That was how Adrien found himself standing in front of the workshop with just a vague plan of what to do. He gulped. Inside there was the love of his life and she would have no idea who he was. This would hurt, but he could do it!

After taking another deep breath he stepped into the workshop. The bell above the door gave a light _ting_ at his entrance and the first thing he saw was an old man by the counter. That must be Master Fu. Adrien had never seen him in person before, but Marinette had talked a lot about him.

“Welcome,” he said with a friendly smile. “How can I help you?”

“I…uh,” Adrien cleared his throat.

_Try again._

“I wanted to know if you could fix a music box,” he said and pulled said music box out from beneath his coat. It was one of the only things he had left of his mother, but one of the maids had thrown it off the shelf while cleaning and it had been broken ever since. He had wanted to get it fixed for forever already, but he had not dared to bring it into the oil-smeared workshop Plagg was usually at to let him fix it.

Master Fu took the music box and opened it. As expected, the figures stood still, and even winding it up did nothing.

“I’m sure there is something I can do,” he then said with a kind smile. “In fact, I have a worker with quite nimble hands who will probably be able to fix it within the hour.”

He gave Adrien the music box back.

“Go through the door back there and ask the girl with black hair. I’m sure she will be able to help you.”

There was a twinkle in the old man’s eyes, as if he knew more than he was letting on to. Adrien decided to not think about it too much and just do as he said. Even though his heart threatened to pound out of his chest, he walked over to the door in the back and knocked.

“Come in,” was the immediate answer, but it was not Marinette’s voice.

 _Probably Tikki_ Adrien thought. She had been another person Marinette talked about quite often.

Behind the door was a much bigger area than he had anticipated. Two automobiles found room here, as well as several other things that needed repairs or that were built from scratch.

“She’s over there,” a woman with red hair—definitely Tikki—said with a knowing grin and pointed to the very back of the room. Adrien gulped. His nerves threatened to ruin everything and Tikki’s playful “Have fun~!” didn’t help there either.

Every step seemed to take an eternity. Marinette’s black hair eventually came into view behind one of the automobiles. She had tied it up in a bun for work and was currently concentrating on the interior of a clock. He did not want to disturb her in her work, but a look back to Tikki just showed her impatiently waving him on.

“E-excuse me?” His voice was squeaky with nerves so that he would have clapped a hand over his mouth if he wasn’t holding the music box right now. So much for making a good first—second?—impression.

Marinette paused her work and shoved her goggles up to her hairline as she turned around to him.

 _Oh my god, she looks_ gorgeous _like that!_

Adrien forcefully swallowed down the _“Please marry me!”_ that suddenly lay on his tongue.

“Yes, can I help you?” Marinette asked with a smile that threatened to kill him. God, he had it bad.

“Err…hi. I…uh…” His own lack of eloquence frustrated him and he decided to just hold the music box out to her.

“It’s broken and the man in the shop said you could fix it.” There. One complete sentence! He internally did a happy dance.

“Oh, yes of course,” she said and took the box. Her hands lightly brushed his as she did so and Adrien felt his cheeks warm.

In the time it took him to compose himself, Marinette had already opened the top of the music box and was looking at the inner works. She let out a few ‘hmm’s as she examined the damage. Then she focused back on him and pointed to each part of the music box as she explained what was broken.

“The comb is still in shape, which is good. It would be bad if teeth were missing from it because those are hard to replicate in the correct tune. Three cogs are crooked though and a few of the pins on the cylinder are missing. I’ll have to replace the cogs and solder replacement pins on the cylinder,” Marinette said and put a finger on her chin while apparently contemplating something. Meanwhile she was absolutely ignorant of how Adrien suddenly had trouble breathing because she was just _so cute!_

“I should be able to finish it within two hours. Do you want to come back to the shop then or pick it up tomorrow?”

Adrien blinked. He had not considered the ‘being sent away’ part, so he was at a loss of what to do.

“It’s okay, I can wait…if that’s okay with you.”

Marinette raised her eyebrows and looked over to Tikki.

“I don’t mind him staying,” the redhaired woman said.

Marinette bit her lip when Adrien’s gaze swivelled back to her.

“Alright, you can stay,” she eventually said with a sigh.

“You can sit over there, Adrien,” Tikki meanwhile said pointed to an empty chair. Adrien flinched.

“How do you know my name?” He only realised how stupid the question was when he had said it out loud. Of _course_ everyone would know his name. He had been visible on the front page of the newspaper next to his father for _weeks_ now.

“I know Plagg,” Tikki said. “He talks a lot about you. “

… _That_ was not the answer he had expected. Plagg had _never_ mentioned Tikki. Adrien would have to ask him about it.

“That, and it’s quite hard to miss your face in the newspaper lately,” Tikki added.

_Ah, there it is._

Adrien shifted uncomfortably. The only news that had had made their rounds lately were questions about how safe Agreste Aircraft airships were if they just went up in _flames_ on their maiden voyage. For some cruel reason, Adrien himself had been criticized by the press too. They had said some very unkind things and made unfound assumptions about his character. His father had been furious and for once Adrien had agreed with him. After all, he was not someone who frequented brothels or the like. The press must have drawn this conclusion because he was 19 and yet not married.

Which brought him back to the situation at hand. He looked at Marinette awkwardly as she gave him a once over. Hopefully she didn’t believe what the newspapers said!

“So, you’re Adrien Agreste then?” She asked and it didn’t sound accusing at all. Relief flooded him.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” Adrien said and tried to throw her one of his Chat smiles. It probably just looked awkward though. He scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. Marinette threw him a smile though and extended her hand.

“I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” she said and he only hesitated for a second before he took her hand and shook it. It was different to feel her skin in his. When he was Chat, there were always gloves in the way. He shook her hand a few seconds longer than was conventional to savour the feeling.

She then turned back to the music box.

“So, what brings you to our humble shop? I’d think that with all the mechanics around at your company it would be easy to find someone that can fix a music box.”

“I…I just…uhm…saw this shop and thought it looked nice,” Adrien said due to a loss of what else to say. Marinette hummed.

“What about this music box then? Oh, sorry. That is too personal,” she quickly said and gave him an apologetic smile. He smiled back.

“It’s alright, I don’t mind. The music box is from my mother. I’ve had it as long as I can remember but it fell down and broke a few months ago.”

“Why are you only just getting it repaired now, then?” Marinette asked as she took out the bedplate.

“I just…I was busy and there were a lot of other things that were more important,” Adrien said truthfully.

In the months building up to the completion of the now wrecked airship, his father had shoved so many classes about propriety on his plate that Adrien barely had any time to breathe. The goal had been to present him in the very best way once the newspapers would be all over the new machine.

Well, that had not really worked out like his father had planned. And as a result, Adrien had missed the soothing melody of his beloved music box more than anything. Getting it fixed had been his plan for over a month now.

Marinette hummed again.

“It must be frustrating to be in the centre of attention for something you had nothing to do with apart from a family relation,” she said after a few seconds of silence.

Adrien could have shouted his joy to the heavens. _This_ was why he wanted to marry that girl! But small steps! The last thing he wanted was to appear in any way creepy. His adoration for her was pure after all, so he could not mess this up by letting her think anything uncouth.

He snorted. “You’re the first to point that out. Everyone else always asks if I have any illegitimate children.”

“Well, _do_ you have any illegitimate children?” Marinette asked, but her grin and her tone made it clear that she was joking. Was she not intimidated by his status at all?! He was lost for words while the sentence ‘I want to marry her’ kept repeating in the back of his head.

“No! I have never even _been_ to a brothel o-or with a girl in general.” Tomatoes would crown him their king with how red he probably was at this point. He could have sworn to have heard a snicker from behind him, but when he turned around, Tikki looked deeply immersed in her work.

“How come?” Marinette just asked kindly. “You could have any girl in Paris.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want just _any_ girl. Maybe I just want _one_ girl,” he said, slipping slightly into his Chat Noir persona to deliver the line as flirtatiously as his nervous self was capable of at that moment.

Marinette smiled while not looking up from her work.

“I see, you’re a romantic then.”

No reaction except for an amused smile? Adrien would lie if he’d say that he wasn’t disappointed. Marinette’s reactions to his flirtations were usually very expressive and involved a lot of blushing. Then again, those were _Chat Noir’s_ flirts. _Adrien_  would just have to try harder.

…If that was possible. After all, he currently felt anything but the jovial confidence he had as Chat Noir. In fact, Adrien was very close to melting into a puddle of shame out of embarrassment.

“Y-yeah,” he stammered and prayed that the blood would leave his cheeks already. He could only too clearly picture how he was looking right now: blushing and stammering like an idiot while unsuccessfully flirting. What was Marinette supposed to think of him?! He needed to be more professional and less of a stuttering fool if he wanted to get anywhere.

_Stay. Calm._

“So, uhm, I hope this is not too personal of a question, but how did you become a mechanic?” Of course he already knew the answer, but _she_ didn’t know that. He needed to cover his bases so that he wouldn’t accidentally slip up with information he could not possibly know.

“It’s not too personal, but it’s a little embarrassing to talk about.”

“I promise I won’t judge,” Adrien assured her with a smile.

And so, he again listened to Marinette’s tale of how she became a mechanic. The thought that she had wandered the streets for weeks without employment or a roof above her head always broke his heart. If only he had found her back then as Chat Noir! He would have helped her, given her shelter and bringing her food. But in the end, it was probably better for the things to have happened the way they had. This way she could actually practice something she loved and they had still gotten to know each other.

“I don’t see why this would be embarrassing,” Adrien said after she had finished and was heating up the soldering iron. She snorted.

“I moved to Paris and almost immediately became unemployed. That’s quite embarrassing if you ask me.”

“That was hardly your fault and you did everything you could afterwards. It’s truly admirable if you ask me and certainly more than most people I know have done in their entire life.”

For reasons that were beyond him, _that_ managed to make her blush.

“Now you’re exaggerating,” she said.

“No, really! There are a lot of people out there who think money can solve all their problems and therefore they won’t even do as much as lift a finger. Except for paying other people to do their work of course.” Adrien rolled his eyes. Among the rich this was fairly common. While he understood the use of household staff, he did not understand police officers that looked the other way just because they have been offered some money.

“And yet you are paying me to fix your music box instead of fixing it yourself,” Marinette said as she put her goggles back on and picked up the soldering iron.

“I–uh…that–I mean—” Adrien stammered, horrified.

 _Oh god, have I insulted her?! Am I just as bad as those lazy rich people?! On no, she will_ hate _me now and we’ll never get married and—_

“I’m kidding,” she said in an amused tone. “A lot of people lack the skill to properly repair something like a music box, and I think it’s completely fine to seek help then. When it comes to things one _can_ and _should_ do though, then I agree that it’s irresponsible to just let others do the work.”

Adrien breathed a huge sigh of relief. She did not hate him after all.

He decided to be quiet and just watch her while she soldered new pins to the cylinder where the old ones were missing. It was partly because it was wise not to distract someone who was working with a several hundred degrees hot tool and also because Adrien was just plain out of topics to talk about. He couldn’t bring anything up that related to her because he was not supposed to know as much about her as he did and he also couldn’t just start talking about his adventures as Chat Noir. What was left was to complain about how boring his life was or to just talk about gossip. Neither seemed like a good conversation topic.

“So, Adrien, you said you’re looking for a girl. Do you already have someone in mind?” Tikki suddenly asked from the other side of the room just as Marinette put the soldering iron down. He really couldn’t catch a break today, could he?

“Uhm, well…kind of?” He replied and scratched the back of his neck.

“Do you have someone specific in mind, yes or no?” Tikki asked quite directly and Adrien was immediately reminded of Plagg.

“Tikki, stop being rude!” Marinette said and turned to Adrien with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why she is like that today. She is usually more polite.” The latter was said in a threatening tone through gritted teeth in Tikki’s direction.

“You cannot blame me for being curious. He’s the most wanted bachelor in all of Paris so it’s natural that I want to know who the lucky lady is,” Tikki said without the slightest bit of regret.

“That is none of our business,” Marinette said adamantly.

Well, technically it _was_ her business, but she couldn’t know that _yet_.

Tikki did not stop with the intruding and suggestive questions there though, which made the rest of the time it took Marinette to fix the music box mostly a bickering fest between the two women. Now and again Adrien managed to throw in a question about Marinette’s life and she would tell him things he already knew. The whole endeavour was not quite productive in the way Adrien had hoped, but at least it was _something_.

Still, when he found himself outside of the workshop one hour later after leaving a generous tip, he felt like he had failed. Sure, his music box was working flawlessly again—maybe even better than before—but he still had not made much improvement when it came to Marinette. At least she personally knew Adrien Agreste now, so that was…something. Hopefully he had not screwed up this first impression as much as he thought he had.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first Ladrien interaction!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy belated birthday to me! :D  
> Had a very nice time eating pizza with a friend yesterday and I got three books! I'll see whether I should write, read or draw now. XD  
> By the way, I made an account on fanfiction.net the other day, so if you see a Lilafly there that uploads Spellbound, then that's just me :'D
> 
> Hope you like this chapter! ;D

This week had been…eventful. Marinette would leave it at that because she didn’t know how else to describe it.

After _Adrien Agreste_ had visited their workshop—an insanity all on its own—Tikki had not _shut up_ about it. She kept making comments about how polite Adrien was and how nice he had been. At one point it had gotten so bad that Marinette had felt the need to remind Tikki that she had a boyfriend and should therefore stop romanticizing about another man.

It had just gotten so much _worse_ that morning when Adrien had visited _again_. This time he had specifically asked to see her and—no joke—had given her a box of chocolates. His reasoning was that the music box meant a lot to him because it was a gift from his late mother and that he was therefore immensely thankful.

She would have accepted that—after all, she sometimes got Tikki some chocolate as a gift as well—if it hadn’t been for Alya. She had also been present to show Marinette the newest article of hers that had been published.

“ _Right_. And I suppose you also would have given a box of expensive chocolates to Tikki if she would have fixed your music box?” Alya had said and poor Adrien had blushed scarlet red and started stammering incoherent sentences. As a result, Marinette had not been able to escape Tikki’s “I told you so”s and Alya’s never-ending flood of questions for almost the entire day.

That’s why, as soon as the workshop had closed, Marinette had changed into her ladybug clothes, donned her weapons and her mask and had climbed out of her window to take a run on the Parisian roof tops. While January wasn’t known to be a particularly warm month in this latitude, she still wasn’t cold. Back in October, when it had slowly gotten colder, Marinette had designed and sewed a completely new Ladybug outfit: her winter outfit. It was better than the first outfit she had worn the previous winter and she now contemplated to make a new summer outfit as well that would include a bulletproof vest like Chat Noir had.

Ladybug stopped on her favourite roof from which she could see the Eiffel tower in all its lit glory. She had often come there when first starting out as Ladybug when she had still doubted that moving to Paris had been the right decision. The beautiful view of the city had always solidified her decision to stay though. It was simply breathtaking.

Especially now in the dark the streets of Paris were lit up by the many street lanterns and the lights in the windows of houses. Steam rose everywhere from chimneys and a little distant Ladybug heard the whistle of a locomotive—well, she _was_ close to _Gare de Lyon_ after all.

With a lot of interest, she watched as an airship sailed over the clock tower of the station, asking herself for the hundredth time how the engines that made it fly looked like. Ever since becoming a mechanic she had grown excessively curious about how all sorts of machines worked, just as she had shown a huge interest in different types of fabrics when she had started making clothes as a child. And with a world full of machines these days, that curiosity of hers was basically never-ending.

She stayed on the rooftop and soaked in the noises of the city until she heard the nearby clocktower signal that it was nine o’ clock. Ladybug stretched and then took off again. When she was outside already, she could as well do a small patrol before going to bed. She was just passing a park when she suddenly heard her name. Not some passer-by calling out to her or a journalist desperate to get a picture and an interview. No, she heard her _real_ name. That was enough to make her freeze and look into the direction it had come from. When she spotted two figures in the shadow of the trees, she had to suppress a groan.

Alya had found Adrien—what was he doing out on the street at this time?—and she seemed adamant to not let him go until all her questions had been answered. Knowing Alya, she probably had _a lot_ of questions.

With a sigh, Ladybug threw her yo-yo at a street lantern and then swung down from the roof of the three-story building she was on. Her sudden appearance naturally attracted attention, which she met with a tight smile and a small wave. A quick run across the street would not shake the nosy reporters that possibly were in the crowd, but it would have to suffice for now.

Like through some miracle, Alya had not taken note of Ladybug’s presence yet and neither had Adrien, who was still being interrogated.

“What is your deal with hounding my best friend?” Alya asked and pointed a threatening finger at the blond. Ladybug truly felt sorry for the poor guy.

“I’m not _hounding_ her,” Adrien winced. “I’m just…being nice.”

“Tell that to your grandmother! I see what is going on here: You think that you’ll have an easy game just because Marinette is in the working class. I have seen that way too many times to count already! Some rich guy wants to have a fun time, so he seduces a poor, innocent girl and when she gets pregnant no one believes her about who the real father is, thinking she just wants to move up in social status.”

She had _never_ seen Alya this furious. But sadly, she was also aware of Alya’s unfortunate habit of jumping to conclusions and therefore wrongfully accusing people. Adrien was holding it together with all the discipline a good education had drilled him to, but she saw how he was also looking desperate and panicked.

_Time to put an end to it._

“I hope you are not harassing innocent people again, Miss Césaire.”

Alya whirled around and Adrien’s rigid posture slumped in relief.

“I was not _harassing_ him! I was just asking him some questions!” Alya protested.

“Yes, I _heard_. As noble as it is of you to make sure that your friend is safe, I don’t think that throwing unfounded accusations around is the right way to go about it. Unless of course you have _proof_ that Adrien has done, or plans to do anything of the sort you implied.”

Alya was about to say something but then closed her mouth again. Just as suspected, she did not have proof and had, again, just assumed something without getting her facts straight. She was a great journalist—really, she was—but sometimes she was a little too eager to jump to the worst-case scenario since those were usually the stories that sold best.

“Okay, I don’t,” Alya huffed and crossed her arms. “But why would he be interested in someone of the worker class when he could literally have _any_ girl in Paris? He has met her _once_ and then he brings her _chocolates_? Kind of sets off the alarm bells if you ask me.”

Ladybug raised an eyebrow—not that it was visible under the mask—and mimicked Alya’s posture by crossing her arms as well. Her best friend _did_ have a point there. It was suspicious that Adrien Agreste of all people would even be in the part of town where Master Fu’s workshop was, let alone go in there specifically to get his music box fixed. A treasure very dear to him that he could not even trust people of his father’s own company with fixing.

“Yes, it _does_ kind of come out of nowhere,” Ladybug agreed at length and Adrien paled.

“I-I can explain, please!” He stammered desperately. “I wanted my music box to get fixed but I don’t trust Plagg—he’s a mechanic friend of mine—with a delicate task like that. He told me about a workshop where I should go to get it fixed, probably because he knows Tikki. And…well, I was just very glad that the music box was fixed again and so I got chocolates for Marinette because girls like chocolates and I didn’t think how this could look like to other people! I’m sorry if I made you worry, but Marinette is perfectly safe, I promise!”

Either he was too innocent for his own good, or he was lying.

“You can ask Plagg! He will tell you the same thing!”

“Maybe this is not the right place to have this conversation,” Ladybug said as she noticed the growing crowd of curious bystanders. Two or three of them even had their cameras ready.

“I’ll keep an eye on you. If I should hear that this whole thing _isn’t_ as innocent as you say, then I will personally put you behind bars if I must.” She intentionally said it quiet enough so that the surrounding people wouldn’t hear, but still loud enough that Adrien would feel warned and Alya reassured. Better safe than sorry.

 

* * *

 

Adrien did _not_ come by the workshop again the next day and also not the day after that. Chat Noir had come by twice and had not said anything but that he needed some comfort. Upon hearing that Marinette had declared the unspoken no-contact rule for void and cuddled her Chaton for hours until he had left again. It was obviously something about his civilian life, because he did not say a word about _what_ was bothering him so much. Marinette was just glad that she could be there for him.

When over a week had passed, the guilt slowly started to eat her up from the inside. Alya’s accusations might sound suspicious regarding the average rich person, but Adrien had not seemed like the type to deceive people like that. From what he had told her, especially of the music box, he had been extremely sheltered his whole life with no friend except Plagg to talk to. Not knowing how to properly thank someone without looking odd therefore fit into this picture she had built in her head of his character.

What if he had told the truth? What if he really had been sent to Master Fu’s workshop by Plagg so that he could get his music box fixed? Maybe Plagg had thought Tikki could fix it—which she certainly could have—but Adrien had gone to Marinette instead. And perhaps chocolates were the customary thing to gift someone as a ‘thank you’ gift in his circles?

And then she had accused him of leading her on!

Marinette groaned and let her head sink into her arms on the table. This was a disaster.

“The engine can’t be _that_ complicated to fix,” Tikki said as she put down a tool box beside Marinette.

“It’s not that. I was just thinking about Adrien and how much I screwed up,” Marinette groaned, not lifting her head from its position.

“Yeah, when what Alya said was a quote then you really overdid it a little,” Tikki said, her voice accusatory. “The poor guy just wanted to be nice.”

“Thanks for making me feel better,” Marinette grumbled sarcastically.

“And your solution is to sit here and wallow in self-pity? I hate to break it to you, but you still have work to do. This engine is not going to fix itself. Either you do that, or you’ll leave it to me to go see him as Ladybug and apologize.”

Marinette lifted her head and stared at Tikki in disbelief.

“It is seven in the evening! Besides, I would have to break into his house and that’s against the law and—”

“So is beating up criminals without being a police officer and still you have no qualms about that.”

“T-that’s different!”

Tikki now frowned and stood with her hands on her hips.

“So far all I hear from you is excuses. Either you go now or you fix this engine. I won’t allow any more of that pity-party.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladrien take two

Dinner was as tedious an affair as always, especially since his father had decided to grace him with his rare presence that evening. Except for a short greeting at the beginning, the two had not spoken at all. Only when Gabriel lay his cutlery down and looked up, did Adrien know that this dinner would not be an exception to the arguments they had had in the previous two weeks.

“I have found a girl that is a good match for you. She is the daughter of the owner of _Kubdel Aircraft_. Merging the two companies through a marriage is beneficial for Monsieur Kubdel and I. He has already approved of the union.”

One year ago, before Adrien had become Chat Noir and before he had met Marinette, Adrien might have just accepted his fate. But a year had passed and he had changed.

“If joining your companies is beneficial, then why not do so without a marriage?” Adrien asked since he knew that directly defying his father would just lead to more irrational arguments.

“Adrien, don’t be ridiculous. A marriage between you two is simply practical. Of course, the companies will still be joined without it, but a marriage ensures trust and will keep the press from jumping to unfound assumptions.”

At the latter, his father looked at Adrien as if it would be _his_ fault that the press had drawn wrong conclusions from his confrontation with Ladybug the past week. Luckily, they have not caught Marinette’s name and Alya had not written anything either, but the further taint on the name ‘Agreste’ had been done. His father had been _furious_ and that fury had only dissipated minimally in the last few days.

Before Adrien could say that he would _not_ marry this Kubdel girl, his father continued.

“I have already arranged a meeting between you two tomorrow. Monsieur Kubdel and his son will come over to dinner while his daughter will spend the afternoon with you. You will show her the house and entertain her.”

Adrien was horrified.

“Y-you can’t just agree to things like this without asking me first!” He wanted to yell, but his voice has suddenly grown weak upon the newest revelation. His father glared at him.

“Seeing how things go when you are left to your own devices, I found it _absolutely_ necessary to take at least this into my own hands,” Gabriel said in an icy tone and stood up. “Nathalie will give you the details in the morning.”

And with that, Gabriel Agreste was gone, leaving Adrien behind in stunned silence. He did not finish his dinner, having lost his appetite and therefore stood up and walked back to his room.

Upon arriving there, he wasted no time to throw himself face-first onto the bed. He has had enough of this day! Scratch that; he has had enough of this _life!_ A life in which he could choose nothing for himself, ranging from small things like his food all the way to who he was allowed to _marry_.

Adrien was about to stand back up and see if Plagg still happened to be down in the garage—the engine of one of the cars was broken—when he heard a noise from outside on his balcony.

_Robbers?!_

Well, they had made a mistake when they thought sneaking to _his_ room would give them easy access. After all, Adrien has had fencing classes practically since he was born and for the past year, he had been Chat Noir.

A small grin grew on his face. This was exactly what he needed right now! Letting some steam off while simultaneously proving to his father that he was not as helpless as he thought he was. It was perfect!

Adrien grabbed his epee and drew back the curtains from his balcony window in one smooth motion. There were no robbers though, but rather a familiar face. A very startled familiar face. Ladybug.

_What is Ladybug doing on_ my _balcony?_

He opened the glass door.

“Ladybug? What are you doing here?”

“I-uh,” she cleared her throat and then folded her hands in front of her.

“I’m sorry, I did not mean to trespass onto your property. I’ll be gone in a minute, I promise! I just wanted to apologize for the other day. Usually I deal with criminals so I got quite good at threatening people,” she winced. “But you’re not a criminal and it was beyond rude to accuse you the way I did. I’m very sorry about that.”

Adrien blinked. He had not expected an apology. Or at least he had not expected her to come _to his house_ to apologize.

“It’s okay. You were right with me being out of line after all,” he said and then started rubbing his arms as a cold gust of wind hit his skin.

“Do you want to come inside? It’s freezing,” he said.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good—” Ladybug started to say, but in that moment a guard in the garden started shouting.

“Who is up there!?”

Adrien immediately stepped out on the balcony and in the same movement gently shoved Ladybug into his room.

“It’s just me! I needed some fresh air,” Adrien shouted back down to the guard.

“Be careful not to catch a cold, Monsieur Agreste.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go right back inside!” And that he did and he closed the curtains behind him.

When he turned around, he saw Ladybug standing awkwardly in the middle of his room. It was quite surreal to see her in such an orderly and clean place since he was used to seeing her out on the streets, on rooftops or even in empty factory buildings. She was part of his life as Chat Noir and until he had approached Marinette as his civilian self, he had never thought that the two worlds would cross.

But despite Ladybug being part of the other part of his life, she still was his best friend besides Plagg. And he _really_ needed to talk to a friend right now.

“Oh, go ahead and sit down,” he said, suddenly remembering his manners and motioning to the chairs in the comfortable reading corner of his room. “I’ll get some tea so you can warm up before going again.”

“You really don’t have to! I don’t want to be a bother,” she said, her arms flailing. He could not help the fond smile that grew on his face and quickly kept her from seeing it by turning the other way. This was the Ladybug he was used to. The one who stumbled over her words when talking to him but still held her ground when she had to. It has shocked him quite a bit to have seen the strict no-nonsense attitude aimed at him one week ago. If anything, that just proved how far apart the two parts of his life really were.

“It’s no trouble, I promise,” he said and threw her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. “Besides…I wanted to talk to you for a bit, if that is alright.”

Ladybug looked genuinely surprised by that revelation.

“Talk to _me_? Why?” She asked.

_Because you’re my best friend and I_ really _need someone to talk to that can actually give me helpful advice._

Adrien shuffled nervously. Yeah, as if he could tell her _that_.

“Because you’re here right now and I just got something dropped on me by my father that will probably be in the newspapers in a few days anyway. I just really need someone to talk to about it. I hope that’s not too rude of me,” Adrien said. It was weird talking to Ladybug this formally.

“Are you sure I’m the right person to talk to about this? I’m sure there are lots of people in this house you could talk to…”

He must have made a strange expression, probably his desperation and loneliness shining through—Ladybug had always been excellent at reading people—because suddenly she stopped talking. She regarded him curiously, like a riddle she tried to solve and then sighed silently.

“Alright. I’ll stay and listen,” she eventually said and sat down on one of the chairs. Adrien grinned.

“Great! Wait here, I’ll be right back!” He said and rushed out of his room, down to the kitchen. He might be a catastrophe when it came to cooking or baking, but tea was something he could handle. Adrien just hoped that Ladybug would still be up there when he came back, as the water seemed to take _forever_ to boil.

Once he was back in his room, he found Ladybug where he had left her. She hurriedly closed a book and shoved it back into the shelf, blushing lightly when she saw that she had been caught.

“If you like that book you can read it, I don’t mind,” Adrien said as he put the tray down on the small table between the chairs. He poured each of them a cup and then sat down in the other chair.

“It’s alright, I was just passing time,” Ladybug said and put some sugar into her tea. “You said you wanted to talk?”

“Yes, I…it’s kind of a long story,” he admitted. “How much time do you have? I’m sorry that I did not ask sooner. I hope I’m not keeping you from anything!”

“I’m not in a rush, so take your time,” Ladybug assured him with a kind smile that made him feel warm inside. In contrary to talking to Plagg, Adrien always felt reassured when he talked to Ladybug about his troubles. He was very glad to have her as a friend.

“Alright, so, almost a year ago I met a girl. Well, we did not really _meet_ , but I saw her at the marketplace when I was sneaking out of the house. She told a vendor off for scamming people and she didn’t care about the insults he threw at her in return. Eventually the police showed up and arrested him and the girl walked away. I never forgot how she looked back then; black hair, blue eyes, a red coat and with such a confidence that the crowd practically parted for her. I know it sounds stupid, but I fell in love with that girl back then.”

Ladybug choked on her tea and started coughing violently. When she calmed down again, she was blushing as red as the costume she was wearing.

“You fell in love with a girl just because of _that_?” Ladybug seemed to realise herself how accusatory she sounded and therefore backpedalled. “I’m sorry, I just mean that you have not even spoken to her at that point. Not that I’m judging! That would be quite hypocritical of me, but…you know, I’m just surprised.”

Wait, _hypocritical_? Did Ladybug have a crush on someone and he—as Chat Noir—didn’t know about it? He’d have to ask her on their next patrol!

_Concentrate! You’re talking about_ your _crush right now, not hers!_

 “I guess it does sound pathetic when I say it like that, doesn’t it?” He said and scratched the back of his neck as he felt his cheeks warm a bit.

“At first it was just a small crush, but I saw her more often afterwards, just tiny glimpses of her life now and then. Not that I was following her! We just happened to walk on the same street and I noticed her, that’s all!” Adrien quickly added the latter when he noticed Ladybug’s accusatory look.

_It_ does _sound creepy when I put it like this. But I can’t tell her that I saw her as Chat Noir!_

“When I went to the workshop that day to get my music box repaired, I had no idea that Marinette worked there!” An excusable lie considering the circumstances. “We talked a little and she was so nice. She did not seem to care about who I was at all, which was very refreshing and instead of asking me all sorts of intrusive questions like other people usually did, she was just understanding and kind.”

“I see,” Ladybug said and took a sip of her tea. “So, you really gifted her the chocolates as a ‘thank you’ gift but also because you _like_ her?”

Adrien nodded as he felt the heat steadily creep up into his cheeks. “I really love her, even when society says I shouldn’t. I know that it’s unconventional and father would never allow me to have a relationship with Marinette, let alone marry her,” at that part, Ladybug gave a little squeak, an adorable little noise he was used to hearing as Chat Noir. “But I still can’t give up on her.”

Silence stretched between them that was only filled by the silent ticking of the clock on the wall. Adrien was the one to eventually break it with a sigh.

“I knew that father wants me to marry soon so that the press is occupied with something else than the _Dark Wings_ accident, and I thought I could at least give it a try with Marinette. I knew that I would regret it forever if I didn’t. Even if she wouldn’t love me, I would be happy to be her friend. Being close to her is enough to make me happy.”

Adrien looked into his still untouched tea.

“It feels like there’s a ‘but’ coming,” Ladybug said. Adrien grinned humourlessly, not looking up from his tea as if it would be the source of all his problems.

“Marinette is the kindest, most generous and most beautiful person I know. I would even leave the company and take on her last name if it meant I could be with her.   _But_ father has made _arrangements_ already,” the latter was said through gritted teeth and Adrien put his tea cup down in fear he would accidentally break it with anger.

“Arrangements?” Ladybug asked. She sounded concerned, but it was hard to tell with the mask hiding the upper half of her face.

“Apparently I have a fiancée now and she will come to visit tomorrow so we can get to know each other.”

Ladybug was silent while Adrien was internally seething. Now that the shock has passed, he felt nothing but anger about the whole situation.

“It’s not like I asked for this,” he suddenly said, apparently louder than intended because Ladybug flinched. “Just because my father is rich and I was born in high society doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t get to choose who I’ll spend the rest of my life with!”

He let out a humourless chuckle. “Marinette doesn’t even know how I feel and I have already lost her. That’s worse than a rejection. I do not even get a chance.”

Adrien never allowed himself to cry in front of other people, but this was Ladybug. She had seen him faceplant into walls, had listened to his rants about how unfair life was. He had even once opened up about how his mother passed away, the most personal thing he had ever shared with her. He had cried back then too, but she had not judged him. She had hugged him and he had felt safe.

And so, Adrien allowed himself to cry for a second time in front of her. First just a few stray tears that he hastily wiped away. They quickly grew into sobs though when he inevitably started to think about all the things he would never be able to have.

No picnics in the park where he would bring strawberries—Marinette loved them—and feed them to her, maybe even steal a kiss or two when she allowed him to. No watching the stars at night from the rooftop they had climbed on just because they could. No cuddling her on a rainy day in front of a fireplace while she sketched a dress or something she planned on building. No showering her with sweet gifts just because he could, of things he knew she would love—that specific screwdriver she had complained about needing for months now or even a sewing machine and fabric so that she could more easily make clothes in her free time.

He didn’t know when Ladybug had stood up from her chair, but when the sobs eventually dissipated, he noticed that she was standing beside him and soothingly stroked his back.

 

* * *

 

 

Ladybug was in way over her head. When she had sneaked into the Agreste mansion (!!!) she had expected to be caught by the security guards and when that had not happened, she had been worried about not being able to find Adrien in the huge house at all. When it had turned out that she had paced on _his_ balcony of all places, she had fully expected to quickly apologize and then go home.

The _last thing_ she had expected was to be invited inside, be offered some tea and getting a love confession. Well, technically _Marinette_ had gotten a love confession, but Adrien couldn’t know that it was her behind the mask. It was awkward and conflicting on so many levels, because a) she did not return his feelings and b) he did not know that the person he was swooning and crying— _oh god_ —about was sitting right in front of him.

She tried her best to keep her cool and comfort him. Heaven knows why he thought that _Ladybug—_ half of the mysterious crime fighting duo of Paris—was the perfect person to open up to, but since she already was in the situation, she would try her best to salvage it.

There was fairly little she could do as Ladybug though, except for giving empty reassurances and comforting pats on the back. And listening. She had listened. Boy, had she _listened!_ It was still very surreal to her that Paris’ number one bachelor, Adrien Agreste, had a crush on _her_. After all, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a nobody in comparison to him. According to the laws of probability, the two of them should have never met, but fate apparently had other plans.

If anyone knew about the pain of not being able to be with the one you loved, then it was her. But reminding him of his hopeless predicament was probably not the way to make him feel better.

“Maybe you should tell Marinette all of this. I’m sure she would at the very least appreciate your honesty,” she said quietly while awkwardly rubbing his back, hoping it was in any way comforting.

Ladybug felt somewhat guilty to have heard him tell her all his secrets which he probably never meant Marinette to hear. Coming clean to her civilian self might be the best course of action for now. And even when she couldn’t return his feelings, she could at least give friendship a try. Adrien did not seem like a bad person after all and she actually quite liked him, when also as nothing more than a friend.

“I can’t! She would hate me!” Adrien whined and Marinette gave him a patient smile. He seemed to be about as dramatic as her Chaton. But if there was one thing that Ladybug could do, then it was to see through a chaotic situation and create order.

“Alright, but you’re acting like everything is already decided and done,” she said and crossed her arms. Adrien looked up at her with a tear-streaked face.

“What?”

“I might not know much about arranged marriages, but you are clearly not willing to go through with it. Maybe this girl you’re going to see tomorrow got thrown into the whole thing just as surprisingly as you did. If she doesn’t want to go through with the marriage either, then there’s not much your fathers can do about it, right?”

“As nice a thought as that would be, I doubt that there is any girl in Paris, especially from my circles, who would say ‘no’ to marrying me. I’m just not that lucky.”

“You don’t know that yet. Just give her a chance and make your intentions or rather lack of clear to her.”

“And then she’ll be angry and go to the press with it.”

Ladybug bit her lip. That was true. She paced back and forth, thinking through different scenarios and discarding the ones that ended in disaster.

“Do you know the girl’s name?” She asked after a few minutes. Adrien, in the meantime, had produced a tissue from somewhere and looked mostly presentable again.

“I know that her last name is Kubdel, but not more than that. I might have met her at some point but I can’t put a face to the name.”

Ladybug had to restrain herself from laughing out loud.

 “Why are you grinning?” He asked and Ladybug couldn’t hold back a giggle anymore.

“If you’re talking about Alix Kubdel, then I can assure you that you’ll have nothing to worry about,” Ladybug said. Luckily, she had met Alix briefly once as Ladybug so that if Adrien would ask her where she knew Ladybug from, she would at least not become suspicious.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He asked.

Ladybug just grinned. “You’ll see for yourself.”

Then she walked over to the balcony. “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to go now. Please promise me to talk to Marinette if you can arrange it. Preferably even before you meet Mademoiselle Kubdel.”

“Why before that?”

_Because I need time to think of a plan to get you two out of this arranged marriage._

“You’re asking a lot of questions, Adrien Agreste. Maybe just wait and see for this one,” she said and with that went back out onto the balcony. Before Adrien could follow her, she had already swung up to the roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, lots of revelations and future plot points in this chapter! What are your predictions? :3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when a sleep-deprived Marinette and a flustered Adrien meet? Well, you're about to find out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much [Ziri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZiriO) and [Hari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hariwrites) (and [Lu](https://www.deviantart.com/flylu/)) for saving my life and reading over this yesterday! I really was at the brink of giving up! 😭

“You look horrible. Is it that time of the month?” Tikki commented as she sat a stack of pancakes down on the breakfast table.

“No, Tikki,” Marinette whined and took another long sip of her coffee—her second cup. “I was just up all night, that’s all.”

“Doing what exactly?” The redhead asked curiously as she sat down to consume her own breakfast.

“Planning and contemplating life,” Marinette said and emptied her coffee. Where was the coffee pot? She needed a third cup.

“And what is your result?”

Marinette paused in her venture to the kitchen counter. Yes, what _was_ her result?

Unable to sleep after returning home the previous night, she had ended up thinking _a lot_ about the situation she suddenly found herself in the midst of. Her first step had been to go over the facts: Adrien loved her as Marinette, while being just friendly to her alter ego Ladybug and being engaged to Alix Kubdel. So far, so complicated.

Marinette, on the other hand, loved Chat Noir, who she very much assumed returned those feelings. When it came to Adrien, she was even hesitant to call them friends, since they had certainly not interacted often enough to be called that.

Then there was the difference in social classes between her and Adrien, which was another obstacle. She had even very briefly entertained the idea of actually marrying him and what the consequences of that would be. Unfortunately for her sleep, that thought had thrown her down a rabbit hole that had kept her up all night.

She had originally wanted to drag herself out of that train of thought by comparing Adrien to Chat Noir and how much more she knew about him. It had then occurred to her that, apart from the fact that his mother was dead and that he was the sweetest person in existence, she knew next to _nothing_ about her beloved. Sure, she knew the little things, such as that he _loved_ sweets, that he scratched the back of his neck when he was nervous or that he was exceptionally naïve. Apart from that though? Nothing.

At the end of the day she knew more about Adrien Agreste’s life—a man she had just met—than she did about the life of the person she loved.

That realisation had shaken her to her core and it made her reconsider her infatuation with Chat—she could hardly call what they had a _relationship_. But even if they would have a relationship, then she would never really know him. He would only be able to sneak into her room now and again, always hiding behind a mask he was not willing to take off under any circumstances. These considerations did not make her love him any less, but they still planted seeds of doubt if it was really such a good idea to be together with Chat Noir.

Her parents had always told her how she would someday find a true gentleman that would love her, and she would lead a happy, married life. Marinette had often daydreamed about such a life. A life she would not be able to have with Chat Noir unless he would drop his mask.

It wasn’t like she didn’t understand the risk—she was Ladybug after all. There were a lot of criminals who would _love_ to get their revenge on the two of them and the risk of her accidentally letting something slip in public would just be too high. Also, how should she explain to Tikki or Alya where this new man who had stolen her heart had suddenly come from when she had previously sung her praises to Chat Noir? No, it was just too risky.

Her traitorous brain had then whispered that she should give Adrien a chance, since he seemed to genuinely love her too. _That_ had kicked off yet another stream of thoughts she had not been ready for.

In the end, she had not gotten any sleep and had instead just driven herself insane. Yes, she had eventually looped back to the arranged marriage fiasco and how she could help, but at this point she had entertained so many _what if_ s that her thoughts had been utter chaos from there on out.

“Result?” Marinette therefore snorted as she sat back down with her third cup of coffee. “There is no result. Just a lot of confusion.”

She would just have to leave the honour of saving the day to Alix. At least for _today._ Until Marinette could come up with any coherent thoughts regarding the crisis, she would be incapable of actually helping the case.

Suddenly, there was a knock from downstairs. Master Fu was still asleep and the shop still closed, so who could…

_Oh no, don’t tell me he_ really _came._

“I’ll get it,” Tikki said and hopped up from her chair. That was probably a good idea, since Marinette would have fallen down the stairs in her current state. As expected, Tikki hurried back up the steps only shortly after, a mischievous look on her face.

“There is _someone_ downstairs for you,~” she sang.

“Fantastic,” Marinette grumbled. That about confirmed that it indeed was _Adrien_ who was waiting downstairs and not Alya or anyone else who would have the audacity to knock on their door at half past six in the morning. Marinette herself was only awake because she had not slept in the first place and Tikki was a morning person who was always awake at that time. The sun was not even up yet!

A quick look down at herself confirmed that she was mostly presentable. Or at the very least she would not embarrass herself astronomically with the work clothes she had changed into before joining Tikki for breakfast.

“Just send him up. I don’t have the energy to move yet,” she said while trying to mentally prepare herself for the disaster that would undoubtedly unfold.

“Except to the coffee pot and back you mean?” Tikki said as she turned around again.

“Haha,” Marinette deadpanned and took one of the pancakes. She wouldn’t be able to do this on an empty stomach.

All too soon, their not-quite-surprise guest entered the tiny kitchen. It was barely big enough for all three of them, but Tikki somehow performed the miracle of fitting Adrien on the third chair at the table. Now he sat there quite awkwardly and looked down at the plate Tikki had immediately placed in front of him.

“How do you like your coffee? Or do you prefer tea?” Tikki asked as if it would be the most natural thing in the world that Adrien Agreste was sitting at their breakfast table.

Marinette, meanwhile, still felt like death incarnate.

_The coffee may_ now _arrive in my bloodstream please!_

“I…uh, don’t have a preference,” Adrien said, looking thoroughly thrown off guard by Tikki’s mannerisms.

When a minute passed—Marinette had stared at the clock and counted the seconds—and Adrien had still said nothing more, she decided to take mercy on him.

“I heard that Alya caught you and accused you of…a lot of things. I’m sorry about that. She can be rather protective sometimes.”

“Oh, yeah, that. It’s alright. She was just looking out for you after all. I’m sorry that I did something t-that…well…looked as if I had other intentions,” Adrien stammered.

“So, what owes us this visit at—” Marinette looked at the clock. “Six-forty?”

To be honest, when she had told him that it would be good to come by before meeting with Mademoiselle Kubdel, she had not expected him to visit her first thing in the morning!

Adrien blushed.

“I’m sorry if I’m intruding, but I don’t have much time before anyone notices I’m gone.”

Wait, had he sneaked out of his house to see her? How…uhm… chivalrous?

Tikki, meanwhile, got up from her chair.

“I still have to finish fixing that engine _and_ the stuff I actually have to do, so I better start early today. If any of you need me, I’ll be downstairs in the workshop,” she said and then was already gone.

“Alright then,” Marinette said before there would be another awkward silence. “What did you want to talk about?”

She took a bite of her pancake since it might take a while for Adrien to actually find his words. Half of her breakfast was gone when he finally started to talk.

“I love you.”

Marinette almost spit out her pancake. In the last second, she prevented herself from doing so which had the consequence that she still had her mouth full of food, looking like a hamster. She could only stare at Adrien in disbelief while slowly working on swallowing her bite so that she could reply. To her relief, Adrien seemed equally horrified. So that had apparently _not_ been his idea of a conversation starter. Good to know she wasn’t the only one with the habit of just blurting out what was at the top of her mind.

“I…uhm…am flattered,” Marinette eventually said when she was able to talk again and would have gladly hit herself for causing the heartbroken look she received in return.

_Good god, Marinette, can you be any smoother?!_

“I’m sorry!” Adrien blurted before Marinette could find a way to salvage what she had said. “I didn’t want to start it like this and now everything I say will make me sound like a creep. I’m so stupid.”

The poor guy hid his face in his hands, obviously completely mortified by his actions.

“Don’t worry, it’s okay. Trust me, I have plenty of experience with just blurting things out at the wrong moment,” Marinette said in a desperate attempt to make him feel better. She would have to come back to a proper answer to his confession, since careful wording was key there. After all, she was not one hundred percent sure about her own feelings at the moment. She was just glad that she had mulled over the fact that Adrien was in love with her so often that previous night that it was almost not a shock to her anymore. But just _almost_.

“I actually planned what I was going to say, but now it’s all gone,” Adrien said with a self-deprecating grin.

“Relatable,” Marinette said quietly to herself and gave him a kind smile. “Just try to start from the beginning then and I’ll even pretend that the last two minutes didn’t happen.”

Adrien threw her a thankful smile. Then he told her exactly what he had told Ladybug the previous evening, just that more stammering and blushing was involved. She sympathized with him. After all, she would probably do an even worse job at telling Chat Noir how she fell in love with him—she had to leave out the whole Ladybug part after all, which was a tricky thing in and of itself. At least Adrien did not have that problem.

By the end of his little speech he had managed to sound like much less of a creep, his eloquence probably encouraged by her constant nods and smiles. She had been wrong with what she had told Tikki before, about having come to no result after her night-long contemplations. True, there was not _one_ single result, but there were actually several. There were also a lot of unresolved messes, but she would ignore them for now. One such result shoved itself into the foreground now: She wanted to give Adrien a chance. He deserved at least that much. It had shocked her quite a lot how open she actually was towards the idea.

“Hmm, that’s a tricky situation,” Marinette said in regards to the arranged marriage. Now as she regarded the situation at daylight, it seemed even more serious. Especially since she was now officially in the middle of it. As Ladybug she at least had the illusion of being an objective third party. Marinette did not have that luxury.

“I don’t know much about companies, but can’t they merge without a marriage?” She asked. The part about the companies merging through the marriage was news to her. Apparently, he trusted Marinette more than Ladybug, or he had just forgotten to mention it the previous night.

Adrien had meanwhile calmed down enough from his previous blunder to take a pancake from the stack and eat it—not before explicitly asking if he may please have one. Polite to a fault, that guy.

“Yes, that’s possible,” Adrien said. “I already suggested it to father but he doesn’t want to hear any of it.”

Marinette had never met Gabriel Agreste, but she already disliked him. She wanted to do nothing more than to give Adrien a fully worked-out plan with which he could defy his father and end up happy, but to be honest, she was not much further with such a plan than she had been when she left his mansion as Ladybug. So, there was only one real thing she could say.

_Just swallow the bitter pill and get it over with._

“I’m sorry Adrien, but I don’t know how I can help you with this. Not right now at least.” And since that sounded too close to admitting defeat, she couldn’t help but add, “But I will think of something! Just give me a few days.”

Adrien gave her a sad grin.

“You don’t have to force yourself to help, I just…a friend told me that I should come clean to you before it might be too late.”

A _friend_? She had met Adrien as Ladybug exactly two times—one of them on unfriendly terms—and he already considered her a friend? Then again, telling her that he was associating with a vigilante probably would sound odd to most people. Alya would have a field day with information like that.

Marinette cringed and threw him an awkward smile. She wanted to give him a genuine one, but considering how conflicted she was internally about what she was about to say, that was not possible.

“Adrien, please don’t take this the wrong way, since this is _not_ a rejection. A love confession and the whole marriage thing is just a lot to take in at seven in the morning. I need to think about it before I can give you a clear answer. Can we leave this on a ‘maybe’ and come back to it?”

Well, that did not roll off her tongue as elegantly as she hoped it would, but at least she had voiced her indecisiveness. And she had not outright rejected him, which would hopefully tide him over until she had a clear answer to give him. Judging by his sparkling eyes, he was at least hopeful.

“I actually came here expecting a rejection,” he admitted and scratched the back of his neck again. The gesture seemed oddly familiar, but her tired brain didn’t want to go through the effort of thinking about it too much. It had made enough comparisons in the last eight or so hours.

“The number one bachelor of Paris expects a girl to reject him. Interesting,” Marinette said and a slight teasing tone slipped into her voice. Adrien chuckled nervously in return.

“Well, you don’t look like someone who would chase after fame or just a pretty face.”

“Oh, so you like girls that play hard to get, then?”

Now that the difficult part of the conversation was over, she felt light and apparently her natural response to that was to tease him. She just couldn’t help it. It was also hard to deny how funny it was to see him blush furiously again.

“I…uh…well,” he stammered. “I guess I like girls who judge a person by their character and not by their looks or social status.”

“You have good taste then.”

The clock struck quarter past seven and Adrien cursed under his breath.

“I’m very sorry, but I have to go now,” he said and hastily stood up. Marinette stood up too, when also with much less grace and a lot more wobbling. Damn it, she really would have to take a nap at noon or something to catch up on her lost sleep.

“Thank you for the pancake and…for listening to me and giving me a chance. It really means the world to me.”

Marinette didn’t doubt that for a second.

“You’re welcome,” she said while Adrien seemed torn on what to do now. Eventually he settled for just awkwardly offering his hand.

“Feel free to come by again anytime you like,” she said as she took his hand to shake it. He grinned.

“Be careful, I might take that literally.”

She raised her eyebrows in amusement. “Be careful, I know how to swing a frying pan if someone happens to show up in the middle of the night and scare me to death.”

She was speaking from experience. Poor Chat. She was still sorry for hitting him atop the head with kitchen equipment.

If possible, Adrien’s smile deepened. “Don’t worry, it would be very rude to disrupt a lady’s beauty sleep.”

And with those words he was already gone, leaving Marinette puzzled on what to think about his flirting. She would lie if she’d say that she felt completely opposed to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I have completely finished and beta-read. I still need to finish writing chapter 6 and everything that comes afterwards. Depending on how well that goes there might not be an update next week.


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